G.R. No. 88211 – 258 Phil. 479 – 177 SCRA 668 – Political Law – Constitutional Law – The Executive Department – Powers of the President – Executive Power – Residual Power
In 1989, Ferdinand Marcos and his family sought to return to the Philippines. The House of Representatives passed a Resolution encouraging President Corazon Aquino to allow the return of the Marcos Family; that to allow his return would bring about reconciliation and national unity. Nevertheless, on the premise that allowing the Marcoses to return will only result in government destabilization, Pres. Aquino barred the Marcoses from returning.
Marcos then filed a petition against Raul Manglapus and other cabinet secretaries arguing that the prohibition for his return is a violation of his constitutional and international rights to travel and to return to his home country.
ISSUE: Whether or not the president has the power to bar an individual (in this case the Marcos Family) from returning to the Philippines.
HELD: Yes. Such power is part of executive power which is vested in the President.
But the power to ban a person from returning to the Philippines is not enumerated in the Constitution as part of the executive power. Should the principle “what the law does not include, it excludes” be followed?
No. It is true that the Constitution did not define what executive power is and that It enumerated certain examples of executive powers such as:
- the power of control over all executive departments, bureaus and offices,
- the power to execute the laws,
- the appointing power,
- the powers under the commander-in-chief clause,
- the power to grant reprieves, commutations and pardons,
- the power to grant amnesty with the concurrence of Congress,
- the power to contract or guarantee foreign loans,
- the power to enter into treaties or international agreements,
- the power to submit the budget to Congress, and
- the power to address Congress.
However, the Supreme Court recognized that it would be unwise to limit executive power only to the enumeration. Executive power is more than the sum of specific powers so enumerated. Whatever government power is not legislative nor judicial is an executive power – which is to be exercised by the President. Pres. Aquino’s act of barring the Marcoses from returning is an exercise of her residual power to protect the general welfare of the people.
Is the exercise of such power reviewable by courts?
Yes. The court may inquire as to the existence of factual bases for such an exercise. Without any factual basis, there will be a grave abuse of discretion on the part of the President.
ISSUE 2: Whether or not Pres. Aquino has factual basis in barring the Marcoses from returning to the Philippines.
Yes. Before Pres. Aquino decided to bar the Marcoses, her cabinet had provided her intelligence report as to the grounds to bar the Marcoses such as the documented history of the efforts of the Marcoses and their followers to destabilize the country coupled with the fact that there is a well-organized communist insurgency, a separatist movement in Mindanao, rightist conspiracies to grab power, urban terrorism, the murder with impunity of military men, police officers and civilian officials, and other problems.
